Define Your Direction.

You can't solve a problem you haven't defined. Most people skip this step. **Your goal:** define the problem you're actually solving, then turn it into a hypothesis you can test.

**A job change** keeps the kind of work and swaps the employer or the conditions (better pay, a saner boss, a shorter commute). **A career change** changes the work itself — a new field, a new function, a different problem to solve. Most reasons point clearly to one or the other — **naming which tells you how big the move really is**.

**Common reasons people consider a change:** better opportunities · more money · stability · balance · health & well-being · growth · culture fit · boredom · recognition · flexibility.

**Pick your top 3** and, for each, work the four prompts below: the reason **in your own words** · **why it matters** and **how life would differ if solved** · **what you could change now** · **who you know** who made this move.

A **non-negotiable** is something a role **must have** (a salary number, real ownership, remote flexibility). A **deal-breaker** is something **you won't tolerate** (constant weekend work, micromanagement). **Get specific** — name a number, a behavior, a boundary you could actually hold a role to.

Five dimensions of a career move. **Rank them 1 (most important to change) to 5 (least).** Your **top two define the problem**.

A **transferable skill** travels across jobs because it isn't tied to one employer's tools. Scan the families below, list what you actually use, **star the 3–5 you want to keep using**, then **translate them into your target field's language**.

Your hypothesis is a **from/to statement**: a clear, two-part frame that maps the transition. The **'because' is what makes it testable**. You're not committing — you're naming it clearly enough to **check in Module 3**.

Belief isn't a pep talk — **it's evidence you can point to**. List **ten things you've done** that you're proud of (work or not). **A non-work win often proves a strength more honestly** than a polished work one.

Then **pick the 3** that best prove you can do the work you're moving toward. For each, mine: **the skill you used** · **the result, with a number if you have one** · **what it proves about you**. These are the raw material for **résumé bullets (5.3)** and **interview stories (7.1)**.

From the Confidence Cycle™: name the **limiting belief** most likely to surface in this search, the **evidence that contradicts it**, and the **mantra you'll use when it shows up**.